DIY sump build for my 125 gallon aquarium

Wmayer created the topic: DIY sump build for my 125 gallon aquarium

Hi , I recently bought a 125 gallon marine tank with all marine equipment , but now changed it to freshwater, I wanted to turn the sump into a freshwater sump instead of having a external filter(s) , I want to know how can I make it into a freshwater sump to handle my oscars and other large south American cichlids, I will try to upload a pic of it , plus an somone show me theirs or have a design that I can get some ideas off? ,
P.s. want equipment do I need to have the sump fully working and what materials I need to put in there, thanks for reading this if you have , will

The only difference between a saltwater sump and a freshwater sump is the protein skimmer for the saltware and types of plants used for the refugium section. However, a freshwater sump doesn't have to be that complicated. You just need to direct the water through the media and back into your aquarium.

I've seen a sump design for a 300 gallon tank, where the outlet from the aquarium to the 100g sump goes into two pre-filter socks. The two return pumps had a pond box connected to it with blue bonded filter pad. On top of the pond box was the bio media in media bags. There was no separation between different chambers like what is typical in a reef sump. All the owner was concerned about was getting the water through the media, and being able to service the sump easily.

well if the sump came with the marine tank i assume there is probably bios balls or some sort of biological media in the sump? Clean the sump out really good, soak the bioballs in clean water and dump it make sure you get any dissolved salts off of it. I use vinegar sometimes and then rinse them really well. Does it come with an overflow and a return pump? If it does it sounds like all you need is a good cleaning and you should be good to go

If it has an overflow the pump for the skimmer is seperate from a return pump. Is there a drip tray on the sump? In most sumps you have a sponge or a polishing filter pad that sits on a tray with holes in it. You will want to buy a filter pad if this is indeed setup like that. You can go buy some online or from you lfs You can get it in sheets and just cut the size to fit the drip tray. As far as bioballs go you can get some from your lfs or you can buy the plastic pot scrubbies from you local department store for pretty cheap. You can use anything as biological media pretty much as long as it has a lot of surface area. I use bioballs and you can get a couple gallons for like 10 bucks online. You will want to make sure that it is the return pump and that it has a high enough rating to lift the water from where you sump is to the tank. Considering how large your tank is this will probably be close to a 400-500 gph pump. More if your tank is alot higher than the sump. Just a few feet of pumping water up will slow down the flow considerably. If you can post a picture of what you have to work with then we can help you figure out what you will and won't need. It will also help us determine if you even need bioballs in the first place or if its more a refugium sump.

You can buy bio-balls on just about any good online aquatic website, or a quality aquarium store.

Here's a little video of mine. Nothing complicated, best biological filters there are. Just make sure you don't let the sump run dry. Don't want to burn the pump out; also, make sure you use a pre-filter of some sort, you don't want anything to get into the pumps housing or impeller. Also, I have my heater in the sump, tank temp stays @ a constant 76F this way.

THOSE WHO REFUSE KNOWLEDGE ARE DOOMED TO FAIL.

WATER CHANGES ARE THE LIFEBLOOD OF THIS HOBBY. IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE SO OR SIMPLY DON'T FEEL LIKE DOING THEM, RE-HOME YOUR FISH, SELL YOUR AQUARIUM & FIND ANOTHER HOBBY, AS YOU WILL FAIL UTTERLY, COMPLETELY, & MISERABLY.

I have a 5x2x2 sump and its basically just two chambers of pond matting for the bacteria to live on, then some K1 Media, then a return pump. Nothing special but does the trick. Has a good flow through it 10,000lph and works well.